


Another Star, Another Stripe

by akatonbo



Series: No One's Innocent [1]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Fusion, M/M, Montreuil-sur-Mer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-15 08:36:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16059464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akatonbo/pseuds/akatonbo
Summary: Javert's promotion to Inspector comes with a transfer to Bespin. The mayor of Cloud City confounds him.





	Another Star, Another Stripe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [feralis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/feralis/gifts).



> I have been so busy for the last three months that I've barely had time to breathe, let alone write, so this is nowhere NEAR everything I originally intended for this prompt; there will be more later! Also, I've played fast and loose with both the plot of Les Mis AND the plot of Star Wars here and that will probably only become more evident when I get into other parts of the story, but really the takeaway here is that Valjean is played by Billy Dee Williams.

Javert's promotion to Inspector comes with a transfer to Bespin. 

The transfer itself is expected. Bespin, on the other hand... is not. It's way out in the middle of nowhere in the Anoat sector, and up until recently even the tibanna gas in its atmosphere hadn't been enough to convince many people to live in such a desolate corner of the galaxy. Now, Chabouillet tells him, that has changed; the once inconsequential mining colony of Cloud City has taken off under new leadership, and the Empire has taken notice. An Imperial Garrison is to be established there, where Javert will have two Sergeants and a platoon of Stormtroopers under his command. 

Cloud City itself is a massive disc hanging, appropriately, just above Bespin's highest clouds. Physically, it's impressive -- the sheer expanse of it, the engines keeping it afloat, the glittering lights and the opulence of the resort that crowns it -- but by the time Javert sets eyes on this man-made wonder, he already disapproves of it. The mining colony itself is operated mainly by ugnaughts, the descendants of freed slaves: not a population given to respect for the law. Worse, its tourist industry is centered around gambling and entertainment, and while it draws some law-abiding visitors of means, it also attracts those whose wealth is ill-gotten, and those who are hoping to ill-get some. 

Until now, the Empire has left Cloud City to its own devices -- no law enforcement save its own, internal force. Javert will have his work cut out for him.

M. Madeleine, the mayor of Cloud City, has a broad dark face and a broad white smile. His shoulders, too, are very broad. The story, as Chabouillet told it, is that he invested in the tibanna gas mines, and the improvements he suggested to the mining process were so successful that he was conscripted into becoming mayor against his protests. There is something about him that unsettles Javert from the moment they meet.

"Cloud City has always governed itself without any issues, Inspector. Prior to this, we had always been told we were too small for the Empire to bother with, so I'm sure you understand why our people are wary of this sudden reversal. Nevertheless, I want you and all of your colleagues to feel _individually_ welcome. If there is anything you need, don't hesitate to speak to me personally." 

"I'm sure that won't be necessary, m'sieur le maire." 

"Nonsense, Inspector. I want each and every one of you to be comfortable here, and Imperial garrisons are not known for comfort. Do you not deserve to be treated at least as well as the gas miners or the support staff?"

"I... well, yes, m'sieur le maire, but--"

"Then I will hear no argument, Inspector."

"Of course not, m'sieur le maire."

This is how it goes in everything in Cloud City. M. Madeleine ignores convention at best, and upends the natural order of things at worst. He is permissive to a fault, yet when Javert challenges him, he never hesitates to exert his authority. His improvements to the tibanna gas mining process and his abhorrance of poverty have won the populace over completely. No one seems to know where he has come from or his life before he came to Cloud City, yet the only person who will speak a word against him is an air taxi driver Javert meets one day when he is headed for the mairie, and Fauchelevent is plainly bitter that Madeleine's business is thriving where his failed (leading him to become an air taxi driver in the first place).

Then there is an accident. 

He is speaking to the mayor when it happens, and he has just reached the crux of his argument when he hears the shouting -- which he ignores, but Madeleine looks out the window and does not so much as excuse himself before he gets up and runs out of his office. 

Javert, indignant, follows without first looking to see what impelled Madeleine to leave so abruptly, and even he, a seasoned officer of the police, is stunned by the scene that awaits him outside. The repulsorlift engine in an air taxi has failed, and someone is crushed beneath the massive vehicle -- Fauchelevent, he realizes suddenly. The old man is shouting for help, but none of the onlookers is moving... save Madeleine. 

"Quickly, someone, run and get a crane or a jack here as fast as possible!" Madeleine is pacing back and forth, looking for anyone who might be able to help.

"It's no use," says a blue Mon Calamari in a mechanic's coverall. "There's not enough time to get a crane before the engine blows!"

An alarmed murmur goes through the scattered onlookers. "What do you mean?" asks Madeleine.

"This kind of engine only fails if there's a blockage, and if there's a blockage, it's going to explode. Got maybe ten minutes, if that. The hull will contain it pretty well, but this guy's a goner if he's still under it when it blows." 

The crowd backs off, suddenly remembering as one that they have somewhere to be where there isn't about to be an explosion. Javert quietly gets on his comlink to the garrison, but he doesn't ask them to hurry; they can't do any more than anyone else can. Meanwhile, Madeleine is undaunted -- "Then we must lift the taxi and get this man to safety as soon as possible. There's enough room to get under it, if someone has the strength." -- but no one moves or says a word, even as Madeleine offers money, and then more money. 

"Twenty thousand credits," Madeleine says, looking around in a panic. 

"You'd have to be stronger than a Wookiee to do it," says the Mon Calamari. 

"Please, someone, don't let me die," cries Fauchelevent. 

Madeleine takes off his coat. The few remaining onlookers gasp as they realize what he means to do. Even Javert is shocked.

"M'sieur le maire, don't risk your life," he calls out. "No one wants to see the driver dead, but a human can't do it. I've only ever known one man who could."

Madeleine goes very still. "Is that so, Inspector?"

"He was a convict imprisoned on Delrian," Javert says. "Strong enough to keep a tunnel from collapsing after the support beams gave way, but he's a wanted man now after breaking his parole five years ago. Anything short of his strength, and you'll injure yourself at best, or be trapped when the engine explodes at worst, m'sieur le maire."

There is a long silence, and then a hiss and a plume of smoke begin to issue from the air taxi. "I will take my chances, Inspector," says Madeleine.

He drops to his knees and wedges himself under the air taxi with some effort, bent almost in half to get beneath it while still keeping his knees on the ground for leverage. He strains against the weight of it, and his face goes pale, then red, with exertion. The hiss coming from the taxi turns to a squeal, and Javert is convinced, for a moment, that he will be typing a report tonight on M. Madeleine's death in the explosion that is sure to happen soon, or perhaps from a heart attack... and then, incredibly, the bulk of the air taxi shifts.

A collective gasp goes up from the crowd, which has grown considerably, if at a greater distance than before the Mon Calamari's warning.

The air taxi lurches, then straightens and begins to rise up, as beneath it Madeleine, like Atlas, bears its impossible weight on his shoulders. "Hurry," he croaks. "Get him out." The Mon Calamari and a yellow Twi'lek run forward and pull Fauchelevent from under the taxi, mindful of his injuries, and get him a safe distance away.

Now it is only Madeleine in danger. The weight of the taxi bears down on him, and Javert can see that he does not know how to extricate himself without being crushed by the heavy vehicle as soon as he moves into a position where he can no longer support the load... yet if he does not, he will take the brunt of the explosion.

The squeal of the air taxi's engine rises sharply in pitch, and Madeleine _launches_ himself from under it. He barely clears the falling bulk of it, hurtling straight into Javert -- who yields to the blow and rolls with it, allowing them to tumble across the roadway until they come to a stop with Javert sheltering the mayor with his body as the congested engine finally explodes. True to the Mon Calamari's assurance, the hull stays intact and contains most of the force, but there is still a shockwave that rattles the block, and scattered shrieks from the onlookers before the realize that no harm was done.

Javert picks himself up and offers a hand to Madeleine, whose shirt is translucent with sweat in patches, his brow beaded with it. The man accepts his help, his grip firm and warm as he pulls himself to his feet.

"Well, Inspector," he says, "perhaps now you know two men who can do it."


End file.
